1. can you run your rv refrigerator while driving your rv?
The answer is yes. When the motorhome is running, the alternator generates alternating current (AC), part of which supplies power to the motorhome’s electrical system, and part of which is first converted to direct current (DC) by a rectifier, and then regulated to the right voltage by a voltage regulator and stored in the motorhome’s battery, and then the motorhome’s battery is used to power all of the motorhome’s equipment, including the motorhome’s refrigerator, so it is possible to drive your motorhome with your RV refrigerator under normal circumstances.
However, you should be aware that there are some situations where you cannot run your refrigerator while driving your RV. For example, if your motorhome has not been used for a long time, in this case, the battery in the motorhome is almost empty, so if you run your motorhome refrigerator while driving the vehicle, the battery will not be able to supply power to your equipment, but you can drive for a period of time, until the motorhome battery is fully charged, then you can run your motorhome refrigerator.
If you run your caravan refrigerator at the same time, your caravan battery will be in a state of overload, which will not only prevent your equipment from working properly, but also greatly reduce the performance of your caravan battery, resulting in a decrease in the service life of the caravan battery, which is obvious, and this is not to be taken. It is not recommended that you run your caravan refrigerator at the same time.
2. Where does the power to run your RV refrigerator come from?
The power to run your caravan fridge can come not only from the caravan battery but also from other power generating devices such as solar panels and wind turbines.
Take solar panel as an example, after installing the solar system, since the output of your solar panel charge controller is connected to the positive and negative terminals of the RV battery, the solar energy can be converted and stored in the RV battery, and the RV battery can supply power to your RV refrigerator, generally the price of a 3kw solar system used for generating power for the RV is around $1200, which is an affordable price. It is worth buying one to generate electricity for your RV.
3. How much power do you need to run your RV refrigerator?
There are many factors to consider, such as how often the RV refrigerator is used, the size of the RV refrigerator and the type of RV refrigerator (RV refrigerators are classified into compression and absorption) will affect the amount of power consumed by the RV refrigerator, the following is the formula for calculating the amount of power needed to run an RV refrigerator:
First of all, you need to know the specific parameters of the caravan refrigerator, for example, your caravan is using a compression refrigerator, the average daily running time is about 6 hours, the output power of the refrigerator is 200 watts, then the average daily power consumption of the refrigerator = refrigerator running time per day × refrigerator’s output power, and substituting the data to get the refrigerator needs an average of 1.2kWh per day.
It takes a 3kW solar system with an energy conversion efficiency of 30% to operate for 1.3 hours under effective light, and more power is needed for an absorption type caravan refrigerator.
4. Summary
By understanding the principle of powering a caravan for a caravan fridge, you will understand under what circumstances you can run your caravan fridge, of course, if your caravan really has a lot of equipment that needs to be powered then you can consider using other power generation equipment to generate electricity, and according to the data, solar panels to generate electricity is one of the best choices.
